
Today’s Contemporary Modern Art Series

Today’s Contemporary Modern Art Series: An Interview with Marion Wilson The Landscape Is Sanctuary to Our Fears
January 27 – May 6, 2020 The William Paterson University Galleries
This exhibition is an exploration of Paterson, New Jersey as well as the Northeastern region through bodies of water. To enumerate, it is an investigation of ecology and landscape. And, that fosters a closer connection to self and place. Artist Marion Wilson investigates relationships between humans and nature. She does so at a time when extreme climate change threatens ecosystems and communities. Furthermore, her exhibition is supported in part by a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts.


1. You seem to be a multi-media artist. What does this mean for you?
I do work in a variety of media as many artists do these days. But the intersection of painting and photography has been a constant in my work always. Contemporary Art Series|Marion Wilson; For the Waters of My Childhood series in this show where I revisited and bottled the water and landscapes that I had swum in as a child but now were too polluted for swimming – I am making very painterly photographs. I print digitally on painted sheets of Mylar where you can see remnants of brushwork- using a product developed by Golden Paints for printing on non-porous surfaces. This allows the photographs to look kind of watery-or the way images suspend in layers of oil painting glazes. I’m also creating a new lens so to speak by photographing through the glass bottles; and you can see places where the images bend and refract.
2. Tell us about your residency with Light Work?
Today’s Contemporary Modern Art Series Interviews Marion Wilson
Because I have a painter’s approach to printing I really needed the DIY approach that the lab afforded me. The printer act as a paintbrush for me. The staff is constantly making suggestions. I still travel to Syracuse at least twice a year to print at Light work.

3. How did this show at William Patterson University Galleries come about?
